Prius on order in Japan...

We put in the order for our Prius the first of this month...
And let me tell you I am incredibly jealous of all you people who are getting your car within days or weeks of buying. You are so very lucky.
Our car is set to come in February 26th. Yep - 6 months away.
Supplies in Japan are completely exhausted and apparently they`re working 24 hours a day to build more.

We ordered the S class (I`m guessing it`s the II outside Japan?) in aqua blue metallic (a color that doesn`t appear to exist outside Japan...)

Anyway, I`m absolutely thrilled and can`t wait. 6 months is a LONG time. But at least it`s a straight to factory order so our name will be lasered into it by the serial, and we also get to pick it up from the factory instead of having it delivered.

Hope I can give some insight into the Prius situation in Japan.

 

Thanks for the welcome!
That isn`t the color - that`s, ummm, (goes off to check the Prius page) Iceberg Silver Mica Metallic.

This is the color we went for;
h**p://mainichi.jp/enta/car/graph/20090518/2.jpg

(not enough posts to actually insert the photo)

It`s sort of a sea foam bluegreen. One of the main reasons I wanted the color is, well, the Prius is selling like crazy and it`s the least popular of the colors. Our current car is a "rare" color and a rare car on top of that, so I wanted to continue to be able to spot it somewhat easily in a parking lot.

I wonder what the differences are in features for the US and JP models...

We decided to install a third party navigation system, and didn`t add too much in options (ETC unit, Glass coating, Deluxe floor mats, IR cut window film, Soft luggage tray, rear step guard, and license plate protectors). It came to about $24,800 after the dealer discount.

Our biggest thing right now is figuring out which navigation system to put in. I am pretty sure there is a lot more variety in them here in Japan than the US.

 

Thanks for posting the pic! I need a few more posts before I can do it myself.

We didn`t get the dealer option navigation - We`re going to install a third party system, so ordered it audio-less. The system we`re looking at (h**p://panasonic.jp/car/navi/products/HX900/index.html - in case anyone is interested) is around $2000 with installation, so in the end we`ll have to add that into the price. We`re also looking to have blue accent LEDs installed in the interior - there are ones offered as a dealer option, but they`re only in the foot area (forget the name) - we want them in the luggage area and in that area below the audio/navigation console. Those will be about another $300 or so to have put in.

A lot of people think Japan is cheaper because Toyota is here, but it`s not really the case.

 

Thank you also for the welcome.

I took a little look at the list you have posted, and I think it is correct. I have all the papers and catalogs from the dealer here so will check. I see you list basic factory installed options but not "special package" factory options (Like LED illumination inside, aero parts, etc etc)
Are you interested in knowing those also?

 

Thanks! I guess they didn`t think the color would sell well in the US. Some of the colors available over there aren`t for sale here either or are slightly different.
Red is more bright red here, but sort of a darker version there. We don`t get anything even close to the Sandy Beach color.

 

A huge bump to this thread...

The Prius we ordered is actually coming in this week. They managed to stick to the production schedule, and the car will be ready on the 26th - as planned. :bounce:
We`ll be picking it up the morning of the 27th. (Work things and all that make the 26th a bit hard to pull off.)

Finally, finally, finally... We`ll actually get the car. We`re doing kpl (mpg?) calculations this week on our current car to see the difference and trying to actually get ourselves to believe it will really be here. After 8 months you kind of forget that it`s real.

 

Unfortunately, we aren`t doing the factory pickup. There were a number of things we wanted the dealer to do (biggest being installation of an after-market navigation system) - so it will be dealer pickup for us. Factory would have been very cool, but was not practical.

Surely it will be the only one here.

There are no lots.

It is different in Japan. Because the factories are so close (at least for Japanese makers), dealers are more like showrooms than "dealers". There will be display models of several different cars, rotating "ready to try" test drive vehicles (for example, two cars on Monday, two different ones on Tuesday, etc), and a service area.

Short of imports, there aren`t really any lots with new cars waiting to be driven home. The closest I can think of are the occasional dealer sales of their display models.

Most people will visit and look at the display models, make an appointment for a test drive if it is not the car of the day (in most cases a dealer will bring the test vehicle to your doorstep so you don`t have to head back down to the dealer), then they will place an order for a car. Pick the features you want, the maker options you want, etc - and they send the order off to the factory. Normally your car is on the line in no time and you have your personalized car within a week or two.

The Prius is so popular that the list got backed up. Very backed up. 8 months worth of backed up. So we`ve been waiting - there pretty much is no other option.